New guy with some basic questions

[brandon11130]

Hey guys, i know your guna hate me for asking but i coulding find the answer. i searched and have been reading this section for the last 2 day.
Im new to BMW's i just bought my first one a 325i with 170k miles and auto:???: Im planning either a m50 or a s50 with a 5 speed this summer. Im getting ready to start collecting parts and im trying to figure out what type of motor to buy, obd 1 or 2? vanos or non vanos? what will be easier for somone just getting into BMW to swap?
Im not looking to build anything crazy fast 200-210 rwhp is more than enough for me.

I would like to keep it as simple as possible, so im assuming that means non vanos and obd1, plus then i dont need to spend the extra 1000 converting obd2 to obd1. What year range will I find a non vanos obd1 motor? And last question, what is a safe ammount of miles on a m50/s50? how long to these motors last before they need to be rebuilt?

I apologise again for all the stupid questions.

[Teaguer]

You pretty much answered your own questions .

Non-Vanos M50 can be found in the E34 525 starting in model year 1991 and continued through 1992 and can also be found in model year 1992 E36 325 cars .

Yes OBDI would be the easier way to go and there is much more info available online for staying or converting back to OBDI .
Both Vanos and Non-Vanos have their advantages ....so it is really up to you and your budget .
I would say at the very least opt for a 2.5 93-95 Vanos engine .

Generally BMW bottom ends are pretty strong and can go several hundred thousand miles .....but most will need a headgasket replacement way before that .
I feel if you get a 24v with less than 150k its OK to skip a rebuild if you are on a budet .
Anything ove 150k and you are better off looking for a fresher example or rebuilding .
I bought a S50 with just under 150K and decided to tear it apart .....and I the process built it into a 3.2 liter , but that build has taken over 2 years and is still not finished . :p

Congrats on your bimmer purchase and it sounds like you have a plan of attack for the most part .
Just remember to search and browse as there are plenty of answers here , try to keep your questions specific as opposed to general questions that can be easily answered by searching .

[brandon11130]

You pretty much answered your own questions .

Non-Vanos M50 can be found in the E34 525 starting in model year 1991 and continued through 1992 and can also be found in model year 1992 E36 325 cars .

Yes OBDI would be the easier way to go and there is much more info available online for staying or converting back to OBDI .
Both Vanos and Non-Vanos have their advantages ....so it is really up to you and your budget .
I would say at the very least opt for a 2.5 93-95 Vanos engine .

Generally BMW bottom ends are pretty strong and can go several hundred thousand miles .....but most will need a headgasket replacement way before that .
I feel if you get a 24v with less than 150k its OK to skip a rebuild if you are on a budet .
Anything ove 150k and you are better off looking for a fresher example or rebuilding .
I bought a S50 with just under 150K and decided to tear it apart .....and I the process built it into a 3.2 liter , but that build has taken over 2 years and is still not finished . :p

Congrats on your bimmer purchase and it sounds like you have a plan of attack for the most part .
Just remember to search and browse as there are plenty of answers here , try to keep your questions specific as opposed to general questions that can be easily answered by searching .

hey thanks! The biggest concern for me is budget, I want to get a m50 in and running for as cheap as possible. Im still in school, so funds are always tight. I want to see if i can get a motor and trans in for around 3-4 grand. looking around that doesnt seam that rediculous of a budget. I can wire, weld, have a 2 bay garage with a engine hoist, full tool box, my dad had 2 e30's and a e21 so i have everything i need.
I would love to have a s50 but i think at this point i might just start out with a higher milage m50 and get everything all set up, motor mounts, tranny mounts, wiring, brake booster etc. Drive the crap out of it and then rebuild a s50 to drop in as funds become available.

Can you explain what vanos actually does, and how will if affect me price wise when it comes to getting it into my e30 and making it run and drive:D
The way my friend explaind it to me was that its similar to vtec?

[Teaguer]

hey thanks! The biggest concern for me is budget, I want to get a m50 in and running for as cheap as possible. Im still in school, so funds are always tight. I want to see if i can get a motor and trans in for around 3-4 grand. looking around that doesnt seam that rediculous of a budget. I can wire, weld, have a 2 bay garage with a engine hoist, full tool box, my dad had 2 e30's and a e21 so i have everything i need.
I would love to have a s50 but i think at this point i might just start out with a higher milage m50 and get everything all set up, motor mounts, tranny mounts, wiring, brake booster etc. Drive the crap out of it and then rebuild a s50 to drop in as funds become available.

Can you explain what vanos actually does, and how will if affect me price wise when it comes to getting it into my e30 and making it run and drive:D
The way my friend explaind it to me was that its similar to vtec?

Your budget seems very reasonable to me .
I would say cost wise you are looking at around the same for purchasing a Non-Vanos vs later Vanos engine .
Also keep in mind that the Non-Vanos engine will be older and could potentially need maintenance sooner .

On a non-Vanos engine on a budget you are limited to potential mods that you can add later .
For the cams you can move the intake cam to the exhaust and then buy a single aftermarket cam for the intake .
Other than that , a more aggresive ship and maybe some eBay headers and you are basically set .

For the later Vanos engine you can always add hand-me-down S50 M3 parts on the cheap .
The cams are always a good start and are cheap enough used as is the S52 exh manifolds and exhaust .

You can source a decent Vanos M50 for less than $1k all day long all across the country .
Would be nice if you could get one with the trans as well ....best bet is to get a wrecked 93-95 E34 525 5-spd and just everything to go the E30 .
Your budget will have to figure in a E30 Getrag 5-spd and all the other parts .....even if you end up with a E34 or E36 ZF 5-spd you'll still need the pedals and other essential bits for your auto-manual swap .

Its really a no brainer going for the Vanos engine right off the bat ....especially if you intend to upgrade to a S50 later on , the wiring harness will be the same .

And yes Vanos is basically BMW's version of Vtec , its a hydraulicaly operated system that changes the timing of the intake cam for best/better torque throughout the rev range .

[brandon11130]

Your budget seems very reasonable to me .
I would say cost wise you are looking at around the same for purchasing a Non-Vanos vs later Vanos engine .
Also keep in mind that the Non-Vanos engine will be older and could potentially need maintenance sooner .

On a non-Vanos engine on a budget you are limited to potential mods that you can add later .
For the cams you can move the intake cam to the exhaust and then buy a single aftermarket cam for the intake .
Other than that , a more aggresive ship and maybe some eBay headers and you are basically set .

For the later Vanos engine you can always add hand-me-down S50 M3 parts on the cheap .
The cams are always a good start and are cheap enough used as is the S52 exh manifolds and exhaust .

You can source a decent Vanos M50 for less than $1k all day long all across the country .
Would be nice if you could get one with the trans as well ....best bet is to get a wrecked 93-95 E34 525 5-spd and just everything to go the E30 .
Your budget will have to figure in a E30 Getrag 5-spd and all the other parts .....even if you end up with a E34 or E36 ZF 5-spd you'll still need the pedals and other essential bits for your auto-manual swap .

Its really a no brainer going for the Vanos engine right off the bat ....especially if you intend to upgrade to a S50 later on , the wiring harness will be the same .

And yes Vanos is basically BMW's version of Vtec , its a hydraulicaly operated system that changes the timing of the intake cam for best/better torque throughout the rev range .

ok, but arnt most vanos engines obd2 or was 96 the year they went to obd2? And yes im gunna start looking for a e34 parts car, there cheap around here and i wont need to hunt down a oil pan. then all i need is the brake setup, and pedals, and all the other swap stuff.

[fretburnr]

vanos engines are 93+, therefore 93-95 are obd1 vanos engines.

[Teaguer]

ok, but arnt most vanos engines obd2 or was 96 the year they went to obd2?

No , all m/s50 engines through 1995 are all OBDI , the Vanos motors are the 2.5 M50 and the 3.0 S50 .

In 96 they went to OBDII and to make up for power loss due to the more restrictive OBDII the engines went up to 2.8 for the M52 and up to 3.2 for the M3's s52 .

Don't complicate things by looking into too many variables , also you should make a habit of reading a few pages every night of the big comprehensive swap thread at the top of this section .

[digger]

hey thanks! The biggest concern for me is budget, I want to get a m50 in and running for as cheap as possible. Im still in school, so funds are always tight. I want to see if i can get a motor and trans in for around 3-4 grand. looking around that doesnt seam that rediculous of a budget. I can wire, weld, have a 2 bay garage with a engine hoist, full tool box, my dad had 2 e30's and a e21 so i have everything i need.
I would love to have a s50 but i think at this point i might just start out with a higher milage m50 and get everything all set up, motor mounts, tranny mounts, wiring, brake booster etc. Drive the crap out of it and then rebuild a s50 to drop in as funds become available.

Can you explain what vanos actually does, and how will if affect me price wise when it comes to getting it into my e30 and making it run and drive:D
The way my friend explaind it to me was that its similar to vtec?

If your worried about budget don't do a m50 swap......save the money for a worthwhile swap such as a m52 or s5x (m50b25 has 12.5% more power over a m20b25 which is peanuts in all honesty and is never going to make much more torque)

[87-325ic]

have you ever driven an m50/ s50'd car? the torque below the peak is where its all at. its so smooth and nice.

[digger]

have you ever driven an m50/ s50'd car? the torque below the peak is where its all at. its so smooth and nice.

sure its nice and smooth and vanos is nice but m50 not worth the effort IMO but M52/s5X are. You can't argue with extra CC's

[e30s52]

sure its nice and smooth and vanos is nice but m50 not worth the effort IMO but M52/s5X are. You can't argue with extra CC's

i agree unless you are turbo/supercharging it thier is no point just save money for an s50/52 you will be alot more happy. im only in high school and im doing my s52 swap. i converted my car for only 500 bucks. with some searching and luck you will find good parts for a great price.;)

[brandon11130]

i agree unless you are turbo/supercharging it thier is no point just save money for an s50/52 you will be alot more happy. im only in high school and im doing my s52 swap. i converted my car for only 500 bucks. with some searching and luck you will find good parts for a great price.;)

ill just keep looking around for a nice s50/s52, I can do the m50 swap for now and then if i stumble upon a s50/s52 i will be ready to put it right in, all i have to do is pull the m50 and drop the s in, ill have all the parts to convert the obdII to obd1. plus then i can pretty much just buy a s52/s50 shortblock because ill have all the acessories and such. I understand what you guys are saying though.

[e30polak]

wait till u find a good m52 from a totalled 96+ 328/528, and go obd1, that will definitely satisfy u for a while as far as power and budget are concerned...than u can save some more money and convert it basically into an s52 with cams, injectors, big hfm, and a tune from matt...that's the best bang for ur buck and will give u round 225 to the wheels, i wish i would've started mine out that way, much cheaper...just my two cents

[brandon11130]

hey, i have another stupid question, i didnt see it come up in the big swap thread. How much lower does the m50/s50's oil pan sit? My car is pretty low i just want to make sure that the e34's oil pan is not going to be hitting on everything that sticks up more than an inch.

[FredK]

I haven't measured it, but it doesn't really hang that low.

With H&R Sport springs I could always get a floor jack (going in at an angle) to the front subframe to jack the front end of the car up. I'd say the M42 pan is a lot lower, maybe by an inch or so.